Thomas Lacôte

O luna freja

The text of this piece inherits a genre with ancient roots, from the Homeric hymns to the famous musical settings of Dvorak, Fauré or Puccini: it is a hymn to the Moon. Under the light and melancholy pen of the Occitan poem Jean-Baptiste Chèze (1870-1935), like a litany, sometimes muffled, sometimes ardent, the star is adorned with many qualities, first and foremost that of knowing the secret of heights.
But this poem is also a magnificent reservoir of tones to be broken down and recomposed, able to stimulate the musician's sound game with a language both very close and full of incredible puzzles. Since man set foot there, artists have turned to others elsewhere, and the mythical or romantic imagination has given way to scientific knowledge; however, the night star continues to attract attention, a symbol of freedom and inaccessible to humanity trapped in its condition.
This piece, composed in the spirit of a madrigal, was commissioned by Catherine Simonpietri for her seems Sequenza 9.3.